Simultaneous carbon and tungsten thin film deposition using two thermionic vacuum arcs

Carbon and tungsten films were deposited sequentially and simultaneously from two separate plasmas produced by the thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) method. Total film thickness and atomic concentration of C and W were measured for different substrate positions and arc parameters and a comparison between sequential and simultaneous deposition of carbon and tungsten is presented. For the simultaneous case, while keeping the same discharge parameters as in the sequential case, the carbon composition percentage is enhanced despite the presence of the tungsten plasma. When only the carbon deposition rate is increased 10 times, the tungsten atomic concentration drops to a lower level, while the content of carbon becomes dominant for the substrates positioned near the carbon anode.